The Conversion of Hamzah

the majestic stand of muhammad and of his followers convinced banu hashim and banu al muttalib to strengthen their protection of him. once, on encountering muhammad on the road, abu jahl insulted him and abused his new religion. muhammad did not answer him and walked away. hamzah, muhammad's uncle and brother-in-nursing, still followed the religion of quraysh and was very strong and fear inspiring. he was an addicted hunter who would circumambulate the ka'bah every time he returned from a hunting trip and before he entered his home. as he entered the city on the day that abu jahl insulted muhammad and learned of what had happened to his nephew, he became furious, and went straight to the ka'bah. upon entering the mosque, he did not greet anyo a as he used to do. rather, he went straight to abu jahl and hit him very hard with his bow. some members of banu makhzum rose to the help of abu jahl, but abu jahl pushed them aside. he acknowledged that he had insulted muhammad and then decided that the dispute had better be cut short rather than allowed to spread. hamzah then declared his conversion to islam, took the oath of allegiance to muhammad and promised to sacrifice everything for the sake of god.